"My friend was writing about love."

Translation: Mój przyjaciel pisał o miłości.

[Modric853]

moja kolega pisała o miłośći - would this have been correct if it was a colleague?

[immery]

mój kolega pisał o miłości - (a male colleague)

moja koleżanka pisała o miłości ( a female colleague)

and it is possible to translate "friend" to kolega/koleżanka, "przyjaciele" are closer than "friends".

[TannerKimpel]

Why can I not use "kolega" instead of "przyjaciel" since the closeness of "friend" in this sentence is not specified?

[Jellei]

Added "kolega".

[LydiaKelle1]

What is the difference between przyjaciel and przyjaciol(polish w) and why is the latter wrong?

[Jellei]

"Przyjaciel" is one, masculine friend, Nominative case.

"Przyjaciół" is Genitive or Accusative of plural "friends", and at least one of those friends is a guy.

(all-female would be "przyjaciółek" in Genitive and "przyjaciółki" in Accusative, as well as plural Nominative, singular Nominative: przyjaciółka).

[JoanieKatz]

so kolegi AND przyjaciel are BOTH Friend??

[NotLolpan]

Yes. From what I've learnt, kolega is what you call "normal" friends, like classmates or people you consider friends but aren't very close with. And przyjaciel is what you would call a close friend. This is my understanding.

[Jellei]

Sounds right to me.

[kenmerk]

How come not napisał?

[Jellei]

You can only "napisać" (succesfully, completely write) something a bit more specific: a letter, a poem, or even 'a few words' - but nothing like that is mentioned here.

Also, 'was writing' clearly focuses on the process.